Week Two

Figure 1. Colpidium sp. and Gloecystis sp.
Forest 1954, Figure 44.

Figure 2. Anabaena sp.
Forest 1954, Figure 633.

Another week has passed, and i was really excited to see the expected explosion of activity. I couldn't have been more thrilled with what i saw! The Colpidium population has increased exponentially, and their focus is as anyone would guess, the food pellet. Figure 1. shows one of the many Colpidium in a state of division, there was also a green algae called Gloecystis. Although the number of individuals in the microaquarium has increased, the variety of organisms has stayed the same with the addition of a few new faces.While scanning the bottom for new life and seeing mostly Vorticella, I came across a bundle of dark green fibers. This mass of filamentous cyanobacteria was identified as Anabaena, and is shown in Figure 2. Anabaena is a "double-edged sword" in that they fix nitrogen for certain plants but also produce neurotoxins that is harmful to other wildlife. Coupled with population growth, there was also a notable increase of Philodina size.

Figure 3. Mayorella sp.
Patterson 1996, Figure 192.

They seem to have gotten quite large off of the readily available dead algae and bacteria present in the microaquarium. Within the last minutes of observation, I happened upon a slimy amorphous cell scooting around in a random position in the aquarium (Figure 3). It was quickly identified as Mayorella, an amoeba that uses cytoplasmic flow around the nucleus to reshape its body to make temporary limbs and even a temporary "mouth" used to engulf other organisms like Desmids.